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Sorry to be so picky with this: sharp edges are a bit of an obsession of mine. The 6000 still leaves scratches- not a mirror polish. Will that stop after some use and the surface of the glass also gets a polish? What would you recommend for a mirror finish. I have a narrow dual king stone which is great but just too narrow. I sharpen knives for local chefs and I am looking to have stones which are less work to maintain and larger so the process is a tad quicker. Best,Avi

Any way, depends on what you call a mirror. I can get near a mirror with my 10k Naniwa Superstore. It's as close as I've ever come to a true mirror with a stone. I can still see tiny scratches though, if I look at certain angles.

It depends what kind of mirror finish you are looking for. If you really want to get a mirror on the steel you should keep going up the progression scale. There are lots of guys that will continue from the 6K and add a 10-12 K, 16K and strop with CO paste which is 30K. The tighter the progression the better since you need to remove scratches from each previous stone. You also have to have the same direction on the scratch pattern or else the polish becomes cloudy.

BTW personally I never do try to get mirror edges when I sharpen. I just like to get them sharp, not pretty.

Thanks for the Input. I certainly agree with your opinions as you are both experienced with this topic. I have been studying with a master woodworker for a number of years and have been sharpening Japanese planes (66-67hrc). We get mirror finishes using natural stones. I am not sure what the king stone I use is but it leaves a mirror finish on my cutlery. Such a finish is not necessary but I like it and its part of the description I give my customers. That being said a16k man made stone could do the trick. It would be easier if I remembered what my king stone is! The 6000 shapton glass will be great as part of the progression and be used as a finisher when I am in a hurry and less picky.Thanks y'all !

Even at 30k fine scratches will still be visible to the naked eye on the mirror finish if the low end grit abrasion patterns are not completely removed.

Following a progression through sequential, close grits works better in achieving a scratch free mirror edge - although it still remains heaps of work to get there.

_________________PICKLED IN SQUADRON RUM

Archer108

Post subject: Re: Mirror Finish

Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:49 am

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2012 11:48 amPosts: 2

Agreed- However when I say mirror finish I mean mirror finish. If the right progression is not used it will not be a mirror finish. With the planes we go from 1200 to natural finish stone with no visible scratches, provided the edge is straight and the surface flat. With the kitchen knives in my experience its been the same. Along related lines- For a brand new knife the edge seems to bur up with use rapidly, I want to sharpen, it although its still sharp, just to strengthen the edge any thoughts? On the other hand I want to go as long as poissible with just the factory edge.A

What Rookie said is important. One key to getting a full mirror finish is tight progression of similar stones and using them in the same direction so the scratch pattern is going the same direction. Natural stones usually produce a hazy finish which lots of guys like and this is because naturals have a variety of abrasive materials mixed together in a single stone. Synthetics are usually better for producing mirror finishes.

You know I saw my friend Scott produce a nice mirror finish with some car polishing compounds. It was slick and came out nice. I'll try and dig it up.

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